I Don't Know How to Shop
by rissaleigh49
Summary: Prompt: "I need a whole new wardrobe because my ex destroyed all my clothes." Where Emma works at a Target and Killian needs clothes because his ex is crazy and set fire to his apartment. Also a little Daddy!Killian because why not.


"Alright team! Let's have an awesome day!" the store manager said cheerfully. Too cheerfully. It was 8 am on a Sunday and Emma was at Target. Working in the worst department of worst departments.

Style Team.

Why they couldn't just call it clothing was beyond her. After checking what department she was in charge of (Mens _and_ kids because they were short staffed today) she huffily went over to a table and started folding some shirts. She finished one table, and made her way around to the next before she noticed a group of teenage boys knock them all to the ground.

It was going to be a long day.

Killian could feel a headache coming on and it wasn't even 9 o'clock yet. He'd spent most of last night at the police station talking to police and firefighters because _of course_ Eloise had gone off the deep end. Again.

He tried with her. He really did. After all, she was the mother of his child. A drunken one night stand had turned out to be the best mistake of his life, because out of it he had gotten Alice, the most beautiful, funny, and intelligent little girl.

Killian wasn't totally aware of how unstable Eloise Gothel was before Alice was born. He attributed her general moodiness, irrational outbursts and odd behavior on hormones, and then he thought maybe she had postpartum depression (he had read that it was somewhat common and that it was something that could be worked through with help). He had intended to do the right thing, and he and Eloise dated while she was pregnant and throughout the first year and a half of Alice's life. He like her enough on her own, but it was the fact that she was the mother of his child that really attracted him to her. Something, he knew now, a happy couple does not make.

Once Alice was around 18 months old, Killian started to realize that her mother's dinterest in her was not due to post-partum depression, and that her mood swings had nothing to do with hormones. After coming home from work and finding Alice locked in her room for god knows how long with Eloise nowhere to be found, he had had it. He took Alice away, and without much resistance from Eloise either. She only really seemed to miss him, and not their child, leading him to believe she got pregnant on purpose to trap him. They had stayed with his brother for the last three years, but with Liam's wife Elsa expecting twins, and Alice attending school, it was time for the two of them to find their own place.

Unfortunately Eloise had somehow found out where said new place was, and of course thought the appropriate action was to burn it down. Thankfully no one was hurt, and Killian had only just begun moving their things into the new apartment, so most of their belongings were spared.

However that did mean neither him nor Eloise had any clothes or bedroom furniture. Liam had offered to help them with the furniture part ("Take your beds from here! I'll have to move them anyway to make room for two cribs"), but that still left Killian having to buy two whole new wardrobes.

He couldn't remember the last time he had to buy this many clothes at once. For the last few years he'd just pick up a few new things to wear when he had to dress up, and the old clothes would become work clothes, and the work clothes would become rags for house work. Now he had to start from the beginning, buying work clothes and regular ones, and clothes for Alice as well. He also had to remember to get some socks and underwear for them both, and Alice is going to need tights for school, and he should probably get her some new shoes while they're here...

And that's why the headache was coming on.

"Daddy? What are you waiting for? Aunt Elsa said we were going to go shopping!"

"Aye Princess, we are. Let me just get a few things for myself and then you can pick out whatever you want,"

"Excuse me?" Emma felt a small tug on her pant leg and looked down to see a small, curly haired blonde girl.

"Um, are you looking for your mom?" She asked the child. She really hoped the girl wasn't lost, it would cause the whole store to go into lockdown and her mom was probably just looking at hand towels or something.

"No, I know where my dad is. He's over there looking for some clothes because my mom burned all our stuff that was at our apartment."

"Oh, uh…"

"Can you help him pick out some clothes so we can go get mine? He's taking forever!" The little girl pointed to a a man looking through a table of jeans. An attractive man. Emma felt her mouth fall open at the sight. With a huff the little girl grabbed her hand and dragged her over to where he was.

"Daddy, I found a nice sales lady to help you!"

"Alice! I told you not to leave my side!" Oh god he had an accent too.

"But you're taking forever!"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it look disheveled and he got even more attractive than Emma had previously thought humanly possible.

"I'm sorry love, we had an unfortunate, uh, incident and I guess my wee lass got a little restless, and I'm afraid I don't know how to shop for myself,"

"It's no problem. Let me help. What are your sizes?"

"32-34 in pants, medium shirts,"

"Alright let me pick out some staples for you. Anything you definitely don't want?"

"I'm sure whatever you pick out will be fine."

Emma went around, grabbing some jeans in a few different colors and washes, a sweater and a sweatshirt, and some long sleeve shirts. Most of them were in blues she realized, though there were a few greens and blacks thrown in there too.

"That's a lot of blue lass,"

"Um, well, you have uh, really nice eyes?" Emma wanted to slap herself for saying that. Usually she wasn't such an open book!

"Thank you Emma," he said, glancing to her name tag for a split second. Hearing her name roll off his tongue was doing ungodly things to her stomach.

She gave a little wave as Alice dragged him off to the children's section to pick out clothes for herself.

After a long day of shopping, and feeling awkward in front of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, Killian was ready for a long nap. Alice was already there, having gotten cranky while trying on shoes, and was curled up on his shoulder as he struggled to push the carriage with one hand.

"Need some more help?" an already familiar voice said from behind him/

"Oh, Emma, thank you, but I don't want to waste anymore of your time,"

"Not a waste at all, it's my job," she said with a smile, taking the carriage from him and pushing him over to an empty register. "I can just ring you out here. You both look like you've had a long day.

"Aye, thank you love. I really appreciate it,"

"Like I said, not a problem," She rung them out silently after that, with only a quiet, "have a nice day," and a breathtaking smile to part them.

The whole ride home, Killian kicked himself for not asking for her number, or giving her his, or doing really anything other than looking like a fool in front of her.

Later that night, as Killian was unpacking all of his and Alice's new clothes, he happened across a receipt with a short little message written on it.

 _Let me know if you would like to give me a fashion show. I'd love to see those clothes on a live model._

 _555-1204_

 _E_

 _ps - If Alice would like to come to, I'm always in the mood for ice cream._

Killian chuckled. As he picked up his phone, he had the thought that maybe he wasn't a _complete_ fool.


End file.
